A Perfect Murder

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

People seem to see two sides of James Newton Howard, directors and producers see it with them. Or you have the melodic high orchestral style with choral brilliance and monumental themes (we all know the scores don't we) or he is able to come up with atmospheric thriller music, the one that sounds dark, enhances the tension and works in context of the movie. A Perfect Murder is that second Howard and unfortunately I don't approve that style very much. Film music sure in these cases needs to enhance everything what happens on screen but on an album it surely bores, making the listening experience a harder task for those that love the first Howard so much. The score starts surprisingly nice, with 'Main Title' and 'Even Been to be to Belize?', apart from being one of the strangest titles ever heard, the female vocal in these two tracks brings a rather interesting sound with it and surely makes the begin promising for what to come. But the problem is that it stops there, the rest surely belongs as supreme thriller music and sounds remarkably effective but does it need to be heard outside of the movie, does it bring something on disc except noise? No, 'Intruder', 'The Attack' and 'You Take Care' are a fitting sign for the movie and especially the second track uses the tension building phrases of The Fugitive but that's it.

I don't ignore it for its effectiveness but it doesn't entertain me, making it as film music inappropriate on disc. Of course for thriller freaks this will more then likely please them but general and casual listeners might keep their hands of the score. The dark threatening tone overall might keep you awake but hardly in ecstasy because melodically it isn't the cream of the crop, and it surely belongs beneath all those other soundtracks released for thriller movies. A Perfect Murder can be ranked with Primal Fear, the low suspenseful background music from The Fugitive and other releases of thrilling mood setters. Make no mistake about it, effectiveness is the word of the game, uninteresting the conclusion for casual fans of the music genre. Howard really does it one way only, making your afternoon or causing nothing spectacular to happen if he keeps scoring these effective yet boring thriller soundtracks.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Main Title (2.57)

2. Even Been To Be To Belize? (2.12)

3. That's Not Happiness To See Me (1.58)

4. It's Too Late (3.08)

5. Intruder (3.19)

6. The Attack (2.04)

7. He's In The Kitchen (2.55)

8. Safe Deposit Box (1.50)

9. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (6.08)

10. You Take Care (1.54)

11. What Happens If ...? (1.50)

Total Length: 30.19

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=== Link to Composer Site: James Newton Howard ===